Carsxe MCP

🚗 CarsXE MCP Server

A modular, extensible Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for querying and analyzing vehicle data from CarsXE, with beautiful, chat-friendly Markdown output for LLMs and chatbots.

Products

• Vehicle History
• Vehicle Plate Decoder
• Vehicle Specifications
• International VIN Decoder
• Vehicle Images
• Vehicle Recalls
• Vehicle Market Value

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ℹ️ What is CarsXE MCP Server?

The CarsXE MCP server is a Node.js/TypeScript application that exposes a suite of tools for querying comprehensive vehicle data from CarsXE. It is designed for seamless integration with LLMs (like Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, etc.), chatbots, and developer tools, providing:

• 🧩 Clean, modular code for each CarsXE endpoint
• 📝 Consistent, Markdown-rich output for chat/LLM environments
• 🛡️ Robust error handling and user-friendly messages
• 🔌 Easy extensibility for new endpoints and features

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💡 Why Use CarsXE with MCP?

Connecting CarsXE to your AI editor or chat client via MCP gives you a supercharged vehicle data experience — directly inside the tools you already use:

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✨ Features

• 🤖 Uses Anthropic Claude to generate comprehensive, professional answers based on the API data and user query
• 🚙 Query vehicle specs, history, images, recalls, market value, and more
• 🏷️ Decode license plates and international VINs (including OCR from images)
• 🛠️ Decode OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) codes
• 🎨 All endpoints return elegant, grouped, emoji-rich Markdown
• 🧩 ChatGPT / MCP Apps hosts can render vehicle, market-value, and recall cards via dedicated render tools
• 🧑💻 Modular code: types, API logic, and formatters are separated for maintainability
• 🧪 Simple to run, test, and extend

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⚙️ Prerequisites

CarsXE API key (get one here)

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🖥️ Installation by Editor

All editors use the same remote MCP endpoint. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual CarsXE API key in every config below.

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Cursor Marketplace / Grok Bot

After listing, install CarsXE from the Cursor Marketplace (Grok Bot uses the same catalog). Then open Plugins → Configure and set CARSXE_API_KEY from the CarsXE developer dashboard. Do not commit or paste a real key into the repo.

The Cursor deeplink below remains available as a fallback.

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Claude Desktop

1️⃣ Download and Install Claude Desktop

• Go to the official Claude Desktop download page
• Download the installer for your operating system (macOS, Windows, or Linux)
• Install Claude Desktop by following the on-screen instructions

2️⃣ Configure Claude Desktop to Use the CarsXE MCP Server

a. Open Claude Desktop Settings

• Launch the Claude Desktop app
• Click on Claude in the menu bar
• Select Settings
• In the Settings window, go to the Developer tab (you may need to scroll or expand advanced options)
• Click Edit Config (or Open Config File)

b. Edit the Configuration File

• This will open the claude_desktop_config.json file in your default text editor.
• Locate the "mcpServers" section. If it does not exist, add it as shown below.
• Add or update the following entry for CarsXE:

  "mcpServers": {

"carsxe": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote@latest", "https://mcp.carsxe.com/mcp", "--header", "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" ] } },

• Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual CarsXE API Key
• Tip: You can add multiple MCP servers under "mcpServers" if you use more than one.
• Save the configuration file and close your editor.

c. Restart Claude Desktop

• Close and reopen the Claude Desktop app to apply the new configuration.

It may take a short delay for the changes to take effect.

3️⃣ Verify the CarsXE MCP Server is Available

• After restarting, open Claude Desktop.
• Go to the tools or plugins section (usually in the search bar or under a tools menu).
• You should see CarsXE listed as an available MCP server/tool.
• Try running a CarsXE tool (e.g., get_vehicle_specs) to verify everything is working.

This will only work if your API key is associated with an active subscription.

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Cursor

Fallback if the marketplace listing is not available yet:

Install CarsXE MCP for Cursor

The install dialog will open pre-filled with:

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual CarsXE API key, then click Install.

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Visual Studio Code (GitHub Copilot)

Install CarsXE MCP for VS Code

After clicking install, you'll need to add your API key manually:

1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
2. Run MCP: List Servers
3. Find CarsXE in the list and click on it
4. Click Show Configuration
5. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual CarsXE API key:

   "CarsXE": {

"type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.carsxe.com/mcp", "headers": { "X-API-Key": "YOUR_ACTUAL_KEY_HERE" } }

1. Save the file — VS Code will connect automatically.

Note: Make sure you have the GitHub Copilot extension installed and agent mode enabled (chat.agent.enabled in VS Code settings).

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Windsurf

1️⃣ Open MCP Configuration

• Go to Windsurf Settings → MCP (or press Ctrl+, and search for MCP)
• Click "Edit Config" to open ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

2️⃣ Add the CarsXE Server

{

"mcpServers": { "carsxe": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote@latest", "https://mcp.carsxe.com/mcp", "--header", "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" ] } } }

3️⃣ Restart Windsurf

Reload the window or restart Windsurf. Open the Cascade chat panel — CarsXE tools will appear automatically.

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Other Editors (Manual / Generic)

For any other MCP-compatible client, register a remote MCP server using:

• Endpoint: https://mcp.carsxe.com/mcp
• Transport: HTTP (Streamable HTTP)
• Auth header: X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY

Consult your editor's MCP documentation for the exact configuration format.

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🖼️ ChatGPT / MCP Apps UI (data → render)

Hosts that implement MCP Apps (including ChatGPT) can show inline vehicle cards. CarsXE keeps fetch tools as data tools and mounts UI only from dedicated render tools, so ChatGPT does not remount an iframe on every lookup.

Recommended call flow:

1. Call a data tool (get_vehicle_specs, get_market_value, or get_vehicle_recalls). It returns Markdown plus structuredContent — no _meta.ui.resourceUri.
2. The model may refine that structured result.
3. Call the matching render tool (render_vehicle_card, render_market_value, or render_recalls) with those fields.
4. The host loads the ui://carsxe/… HTML resource (text/html;profile=mcp-app) and renders the card once.

Cards use published tokens from @carsxe/design-system (--primary #065774, --background #F9F9F9, --card #FFFFFF, rounded-2xl chrome) and the official Logo assets https://ui.carsxe.com/logo-light.png / logo-dark.png.

Auth is unchanged: MCP still requires an API key or OAuth. x402 remains REST-only.

Preview the cards locally (no API key, mock data):

npm run preview:ui

Then open previews/vehicle-card.html, previews/market-value.html, and previews/recalls.html in a browser.

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🛠️ Available Tools & Example Prompts

Below is a list of all available CarsXE tools, their parameters, and example prompts. These prompts work in any MCP-connected client.

1. get_vehicle_specs 🚙

• Description: Get comprehensive vehicle specifications by VIN (Vehicle Specifications)
• Parameters:
• vin (string, required): 17-character Vehicle Identification Number
• Example Prompts:

What are the full specs for VIN WBAFR7C57CC811956?

Is this a V6 or V8? VIN: WBAFR7C57CC811956

What trim level is WBAFR7C57CC811956?

• Output: Markdown-formatted vehicle specs (year, make, model, engine, dimensions, colors, equipment, etc.)

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2. decode_license_plate 🏷️

• Description: Decode a vehicle's license plate to get VIN and basic info (Vehicle Plate Decoder)
• Parameters:
• plate (string, required): License plate number
• state (string, optional): State abbreviation (e.g., CA)
• country (string, required, default: US): Country code
• Example Prompts:

What car has license plate 7XER187 in California?

Decode plate 7XER187 state CA

Look up the plate ABC1234 in Texas

• Output: Markdown summary of decoded vehicle info (VIN, make, model, year, etc.)

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3. decode_international_vin 🌍

• Description: Decode an international VIN for detailed info (International VIN Decoder)
• Parameters:
• vin (string, required): 17-character VIN
• Example Prompts:

Decode this European VIN: WF0MXXGBWM8R43240

What car is WAUZZZ8K9AA123456? It's a Germa